Problem: In the right triangle shown, $AC = 3$ and $BC = 8$. What is $AB$ ? $A$ $C$ $B$ $3$ $8$ $?$
Solution: We know $a^2 + b^2 = c^2$ We want to find $c$ ; let $a = 8$ and $b = 3$ So $c^2 = 8^2 + 3^2 = 73$ Then, $c = \sqrt{73}$.